FOAK - Alcohol

Seeing the earlier post re "Calls for tougher drink-drive limits" prompted
me to think about myself. Most evenings I have 2 or 3 glasses of red wine,
go to bed at 11:30 and I on the 'bike at 08:00 to MK the following
morning, confident I am not over the limit. Now I am sure some people
drink a lot more than me most evenings, and some a lot less. My question
is what is a safe amount to drink of an evening and still be legal the
following morning.

Sure google will probably tell me, but what do you lot do?

 

Ovenpaa emerged from their own little world to say

There is no simple formula. Each individual is different as there are many
variables e.g.:

Individual metabolism (liver & kidney function especially)
Activity - alcohol is high in calories
Consumption of other food & drink alters absorption, metabolism and
leeching rates of alcohol.
Medication can affect the way alcohol is metabolised

 

I have heard mention of half a pint (of normal beer) every hour as a
general guide, but I suspect this varies quite a lot.

 

Ovenpaa says...

I don't drink.

 

Roughly there, yeah. Average metabolic rate is one unit an hour. That's
half a pint of Skol, or about 1/3 pint of Stella. But that's a pretty
rough average. Remember that "normal beer" these days is almost twice as
strong as "normal beer" 15 years ago.

1 unit is 10ml of alcohol, so...

One pint of Stella = 568ml * 5% = 2.9 units
One glass (125ml) of wine = 125ml * 12% = 1.5 units

But if you want to be sure, don't drink.

 

Cane emerged from their own little world to say

*ding*

When I did earlies starting at 6am I bet I was over the limit on a number
of occasions.

I certainly was in France a few days ago, riding the 15km from the Chateau
we stayed in to the dock in Cherbourg, at 7am. The kitchen ran out of Calor
gas so dinner was delayed. The patron was very good and opened quite a few
bottles of nice claret.

 

Get one of those single-use breathalysers that they have on the
checkout at Halfords and test yourself in the morning.

You should be OK in the morning after one bottle of wine
(the night before, not for breakfast!)

 

The fat content of the meal has a major effect. The lipids line the
stomach and limit the rate of absorption of the alcohol.

As a student I volunteered for an experiment on the effects of alcohol
on reaction times.[1] The final year student whose project it was had
substituted neat alcohol for the vodka for which he had claimed
expenses, so it tasted foul, but that's beside the point.

My results showed no change between the before alcohol and after
alcohol test which my intrepid expense-fiddling researcher put down to
the fact that I'd had a fry up for brekkie.

[1] A I recall the combination of being given free alcohol AND being
paid a fiver for my time proved irresistable.

 

Depends on the strength of the beer, and the fact you'd be metabolising
it from the first pint...

I suspect you'd just about be under as having a pint or so still in your
bloodstream wouldn't necesarly mean you were over the limit... we're not
talking a zero alcohol limit, after all.

Plus you could always drink the first 3 pints *really fast*.

 

Chimay, this summer. Sweller and I were drinking pretty well continuously
all day through to about 1 or 2AM[1]. Up at sparrowfart, packed up, nailed
it for the chunnel. Staggered into a tabac for some strong coffee after
about 50 wobbly miles...

[1]We were certainly well away when we were riding the Drifter round the
field in the dark...

 

How about a scientific approach?

If you can eliminate a half pint per hour, and about 2 pints worth
will take you over the limit, then if you are drinking for
D hours and then sleeping for S hours, you should drink
less than ( 2 + ( D + S ) / 2 ) pints.

Anyone want to test the formula by speeding past a constable
tomorrow morning?

 

An "average" person will metabolise one unit of alcohol per hour , with the
same "average" person being on the legal limit with probably about 3 or 4
units in their bloodstream.

If you have big glasses of wine then you might have 9 units in the evening ,
but 8 hours of sleep will bring you down to a nice legal level.

--
Alex

YZF 600

"I laugh in the face of danger"

"Then I hide until it goes away"

www.upce.org.uk
www.drzoidberg.co.uk

 

There was an excel spreadsheet that let you put the numbers in and it
would tell you when you'd be sober. That might be handy, but most of
the time I go out when I feel ok.

However, I'm pretty sure this method is as reliable as a bungee cord at
100mph on the M6.

 

Well, yes, but my point was to poke a hole in the old "a glass of wine is
one unit" for even the smallest thimbles. My usual wine vessel is a leffe
glass which holds a good 450ml or so. And then I drive to the offie for
another bottle.

 

You seem to be under the misconception that the drink driving limit is
measured in pints.

 

An extract taken from the website of a company I used to work for:

*DRINKING / DRIVING / DRUGS*

Please bear in mind that any accident that you have, you will be
breathalysed at the scene of the accident.

Here is an example: It takes the body one hour for men to and one and a
half hours for women to break down 1 unit of alcohol.

If you go to the pub at 8 o=3Fclock Thursday night and drink 5 pints of
strong lager (3 units per pint) and have a large vodka (2 units) to
finish the night off, you stop drinking at 11 o=3Fclock, when will it be
safe to drive again?

You have consumed 17 units of alcohol from 8 PM which means you need 17
hours to clear your system! It means you should not drive until 1pm the
next day. If you are drinking the night before you have to work play
safe never drink more than 6 units the night before work.

6 units 1 bottle of wine

3 pints of lager or bitter

2 pints of strong lager or bitter

 

Chris Cowley secured a place in history by writing:

I've convinced myself that I was worth sleeping with whilst pissed, best
shag I've ever had.

 

Dr Ivan D. Reid says...

And you wonder why you can't find the Higgs boson.

 

Whinging Courier emerged from their own little world to say

*bzzt*

I'm drinking a weedy bottle of 13% merlot. The vintner prints 9.8 UK units
on the label.

I have a couple in the "cellar" which are 14.5%.....

 

Thissere bottle of Train Sovinyon is 12%, label says 1.5 units per 125ml
glass. So, 9 units to the bottle.